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(Class of Oviparous Insects, Part 23)

(Listed as a Superior Grade in the *Shennong Bencao Jing* [Divine Farmer's Materia Medica])
【Names and Etymology】Fengmi (Bee Honey) (common name). Those growing on rocks are called Shimian (Rock Honey) (from *Shennong Bencao Jing*), Shi Yi (Rock Syrup) (ibid.), Yanmi (Cliff Honey).
Li Shizhen says: Honey is named "Mi" because it is formed densely by bees. The original text of the *Bencao Jing* writes "Shimian," likely because those growing on rocks are considered superior, yet various scholars have raised doubts and debates about this. Now, directly titling it "Fengmi" (Bee Honey) establishes the correct name.
【Correction of Errors】Su Gong says: The finest honey comes from the Di and Qiang regions. Currently, white honey from Guanzhong is sweet, delicious, and durable, completely surpassing that from Jiangnan. Tao Hongjing, having not seen it, considered southern honey superior. What is now made by boiling rock sugar with water buffalo milk is also called Shimian. Since this honey is produced by bees, the character "Shi" (Rock) should be removed.
Kou Zongshi says: The *Jiayou Bencao* records two types of Shimian: one found in the insect/fish section, and one in the fruit section. Since lactose sugar is called Shimian, the Shimian in the insect section should not use the character "Shi"; "Shi" is likely a typo for "Bai" (White), which is why people still say Baisha Mi (White Sand Honey). Fresh honey is thin and yellow, while aged honey is white and sandy.
Chen Cangqi says: Yanmi (Cliff Honey) comes from the cliffs and ridges of the south, and is best for medicinal use; Shimian should be changed to Yan. Su Gong was from the Jing-Xiang region, where there are no steep cliffs, so he did not know the superiority of Shimian.
Li Shizhen says: According to the *Bielu* [Mingyi Bielu], Shimian grows in the stones of various mountains, and those white like paste are good. This indicates that honey taken from mountain stones is superior. Su Gong failed to examine the characters "Mountain Stone" and, due to the shared name with lactose sugar, wanted to remove the "Shi" character; Kou Zongshi did not know that true honey has a white sand color while fake honey is thin and yellow, relying only on arguments of newness and age, thus both were mistaken. To test honey, insert a red-hot chopstick; if it emits vapor upon removal, it is genuine; if it emits smoke, it is fake.
【Collected Explanations】The *Bielu* states: Shimian grows in the valleys of Wudu, Heyuan, and among the stones of various mountains. Those white like paste are good.
Tao Hongjing says: Shimian is cliff honey, made in high mountain rocks, with a greenish-red color, slightly bland taste, causing mental restlessness when eaten. Its bees are black and resemble horseflies. There is also Mumi (Tree Honey) made hanging on tree branches, with a greenish-white color. Tumi (Earth Honey) is made in the earth, also greenish-white, with a bland taste. Honey made in human dwellings or tree hollows is also white but thick and delicious. Currently, much Tumi comes from Tan Ya in Jin'an, said to be the best. From Dongyang, Linhai, and other places in Jiangnan westward, much Mumi is produced. From Qian and Huaian counties, much Yanmi (Cliff Honey) is produced. There are also those kept in trees or by humans. All kinds of honey often contain impurities or are boiled, making them unsuitable for medicine. One must personally inspect and select them to avoid impurities. Generally, bee-made honey requires human urine to ferment various flowers before it can mature, resembling the stirring process required for making malt syrup.
Chen Cangqi says: Ordinary honey is also made in wood or in the earth. The north is dry, so it is mostly in the earth; the south is humid, so it is mostly in wood. Each follows the local climate, but the honey is the same. Yanmi is a different type of bee, as described by Tao, coming from southern cliffs, with hives hanging on cliffs or in earth caves. Humans cannot reach them, so long poles are used to pierce them to let the honey out, caught with vessels. Yields can reach three or four shi (a unit of volume/weight), with a sweet taste and green color, superior to ordinary honey for medicine.
Zhang Hua's *Bowuzhi* [Insectary] says: In the secluded parts of southern mountains, melittin (beeswax) is produced. Melittin adheres to sheer rock walls, inaccessible by climbing. Only from the mountaintop using a basket litter suspended down can it be collected. After the bees leave, the remaining wax stays on the stone. Birds like sparrows come in flocks to peck it all away, called Lingque (Spirit Sparrow). In spring, bees return as before, and people guard these spots, called Misai (Honey Pass). This is Shimian.
Su Song says: Edible honey also has two types: one made in houses on forest trees, one made in human dwellings and kept in frames, both thick and delicious. Recently, Xuanzhou has Huanglian Mi (Coptis Honey), yellow with a slight bitter taste, treating eye heat. Yong and Luo areas have Lihua Mi (Pear Blossom Honey), white like congealed fat. Bozhou Taiqing Palace has Guihua Mi (Cypress Flower Honey), slightly reddish. Zhecheng County has Heshouwu Mi (Polygonum Multiflorum Honey), even redder. All are made by bees collecting their flowers, varying according to the warming or cooling nature of the flowers.
Kou Zongshi says: Shanmi (Mountain Honey) is mostly in stones or on wood, sometimes lasting one or two years, with mellow and strong flavor. Human-kept honey is harvested twice a year, lacking in flavor, thus inferior, and prone to souring over time.
Li Shizhen says: The Lingque mentioned by Chen Cangqi is a small bird, also known as Mimǔ (Honey Mother), black in color. It arrives in January to seek shelter in rock crevices, followed by swarms of bees. It exists in the south.
【Processing】Su Song says: When refining one jin (approx. 500g) of honey, only twelve liang and a half remains. If the fire is too weak or too strong, it is unusable.
Li Shizhen says: To refine Shami (Sand Honey), add four liang of water per jin, place in silver or ceramic vessels, and slowly refine over mulberry wood fire, skimming off foam, until a drop forms a bead that does not scatter. This is called the Water-Fire Refining Method. Another method: Place the vessel in a double boiler and boil for a day. When a drop does not scatter, take it for use. This is also good and does not damage the fire qi.
【Flavor and Properties】Sweet, neutral, non-toxic. The *Bielu* says: Slightly warm.
Su Song says: The flavor of various honeys depends primarily on the flower. Winter and summer harvests are superior, autumn is secondary, and spring changes easily and becomes sour. Fujian and Guangdong honey is extremely hot because the south lacks frost and snow, and many flowers are hot in nature. Sichuan honey is warm, while western honey is cool.
Liu Wansu says: Honey is formed by bees; bees are cold while honey is warm, demonstrating same substance but different properties.
Li Shizhen says: Raw honey is cool, cooked honey is warm, neither cold nor dry, possessing balanced qi. Therefore, it is suitable for diseases of the twelve zang-fu organs. However, excessive consumption generates damp-heat and parasites, especially in children who should avoid it. Wang Chong's *Lunheng* [Balanced Inquiries] states: Bees and scorpions are born from the solar fire qi, so their poison is in the tail. Honey is bee fluid; eating too much can cause poisoning, a fact one must know. Refined honey is non-toxic.
Kou Zongshi says: Although honey is non-toxic, excessive consumption can generate various wind pathogens.
Zhu Zhenheng says: Honey prefers entering the Spleen channel. The northwest is high and dry, so consuming it is beneficial. The southeast is low and damp, so excessive consumption harms the Spleen.
Sun Simiao says: Do not eat raw honey in the seventh lunar month, as it causes sudden diarrhea and cholera. Green or red, sour honey causes mental restlessness when eaten. It should not be consumed with raw green onions or lettuce.
【Indications】Evil qi in the heart and abdomen, various convulsions and epilepsy, stabilizes the five zang organs and deficiencies, tonifies qi and supplements the middle, stops pain and detoxifies, eliminates various diseases, and harmonizes hundred herbs. Long-term use strengthens willpower, lightens the body, prevents hunger and aging, and extends life like an immortal (from *Shennong Bencao Jing*). Nourishes spleen qi, relieves mental restlessness, treats inability to eat, stops dysentery, relieves muscle pain, mouth ulcers, and brightens eyes and ears (from *Bielu*). Treats dental caries, lip and mouth ulcers, red films on the eyes, kills parasites (Chen Cangqi). Treats sudden heart pain and bloody dysentery; drink one bowl of honey water at once to stop; or mix one he of ginger juice with one he of honey, add water, and drink at once. Regular use makes the face rosy like a flower (Zhen Quan). Treats stabbing pain in the heart and abdomen, and bloody dysentery; take one spoonful each with fresh Rehmannia juice, and it will pass (Meng Shen). Mix with Allium macrostemon (Xiebai) and apply to burns (Li Shizhen); regulates stomach and spleen.
【Elucidation】Tao Hongjing says: Shimian is essential for Daoist pills. Immortal formulas also use refined honey alone for consumption, claiming it leads to longevity and immortality.
Li Shizhen says: Bees collect nectar from non-poisonous flowers and ferment it with urine to create honey, illustrating how the foul transforms into the miraculous. Its medicinal functions are fivefold: clearing heat, tonifying the middle, detoxifying, moistening dryness, and stopping pain. Raw honey is cool, thus clearing heat; cooked honey is warm, thus tonifying the middle. Sweet and peaceful, thus detoxifying; soft and moistening, thus relieving dryness. Slowness relieves urgency, thus stopping pain in the heart, abdomen, muscles, and sores; harmony achieves balance, thus harmonizing hundred herbs, functioning similarly to Licorice Root (Gancao). Zhang Zhongjing's method of using honey suppositories for Yangming constipation and bowel obstruction is truly a divine prescription for millennia.
Meng Shen says: Whenever one feels heat and limb discomfort, drinking a bowl of honey water is very effective. For applying to hot membranes in the eyes, domesticated white honey is best, tree honey is second, and cliff honey is third. Boiled with ginger juice, it effectively treats leprosy.
【Attached Prescriptions】Fourteen old, six new. Bowel obstruction: Zhang Zhongjing's *Shanghan Lun* [Treatise on Cold Damage] states: Yangming disease, spontaneous sweating, urination is frequent, large intestine is dry and hard. Take seven he of honey, simmer in a copper vessel over mild fire until it resembles malt syrup, stir constantly to prevent burning. While warm, shape into a cone, sharp at the head, finger-thick, about two cun long. Insert into the rectum while warm. Hold tightly with hand. Remove when urge to defecate arises. Suspected not to be Zhang Zhongjing's original intent, but tested and effective. Add a small amount of fine Asarum (Xixin) powder for faster results.
Hiccups preventing food intake: Contain cliff honey and swallow slowly (Guangli Fang).
Postpartum thirst: Use refined honey, any amount, mixed with hot water to drink, stops immediately (Chan Shu).
Difficult labor/breech birth: Half a bowl of honey and half a bowl of pure sesame oil, boil until reduced by half, drink, fetus drops immediately (Haishang Fang).
Epidemic Smallpox (Lu Chuang): In recent years, there has been an epidemic rash covering the head, face, and body rapidly, resembling fire blisters with white pus, breaking and reforming. Without immediate treatment, death occurs within days. Scars remain dark for a year. This is evil toxic qi. People say it originated from captives taken by Nanyang during the Jianwu era, hence called Lu Chuang. Physicians recommend rubbing good honey over the sores, and frequently wiping with decoction of Cimicifuga (Shengma) prepared in honey (Zhouhou Fang).
Itching from Chickenpox/Rash: Unbearable itching, scratching causes sores and pustules that refuse to fall off. Baihua Gao (Hundred Flowers Ointment): Use superior Shimian, any amount, dissolve in hot water, and brush onto sores with feathers periodically. Sores fall off easily without scarring (Quanyou Xinjian).
Urticaria Itching: White honey, any amount, taken with good wine, effective (Shenghui Fang).
Five-Color Erysipelas: Apply mixture of honey and dried ginger powder (Zhouhou Fang).
Mouth Ulcers: Soak Large Leaf Blue Indigo Leaf (Daqing Ye) in honey and hold in mouth (Yaoxing Lun).
Ulcers on Glans Penis: Apply licorice root decocted in honey until healed (Waitai Mi Yao).
Anal Ulcers: The anus corresponds to the Lung; lung heat causes anal swelling, contraction, and ulceration. Mix one sheng of white honey with one pig bile. Simmer gently until moldable. Form into a three-cun long suppository, coat with oil, insert into lower orifice. Lie down with buttocks elevated. Defecation occurs shortly after (Meishi Fang).
Scalds from Hot Oil: Apply white honey (Meishi Fang).
Carbuncles and Toxic Swellings: Grind raw honey with last year's green onion into a paste. Pierce the carbuncle first, then apply. After walking about five li, the toxin emerges. Wash off with hot vinegar water (Jiji Xianfang).
Great Wind Leprosy: Take one jin of white honey and two jin of ginger (crushed for juice). Weigh the copper pot, add ginger juice to honey, re-weigh the pot; the weight loss equals the ginger juice amount. Simmer gently until moldable. Form into pills the size of a jujube. Take one pill at dawn, three times a day, with warm wine. Avoid raw/cold, vinegar, slippery, and smelly foods. Many functions, not listed here (Shiliao Fang).
Facial Freckles/Dark Spots: Mix white honey with Poria (Fuling) powder and apply. Heals in seven days (Sun Taoren Shiji).
Pterygium (Eye Growth): Apply raw honey to the eye, lie on back for half a day, then wash. Once daily (Zhouhou Fang).
Accidental Swallowing of Copper Coin: Drink two sheng of refined honey, it will pass out (Ge Shi Fang).
Fish Bones Stuck in Throat: Slowly consume good honey to help it go down (Ge Shi).
Turning White Hair Black/Treating Premature Graying: Pluck white hairs, apply white honey to the follicle, black hair will grow. If not, crush Chinese Wingtree seeds (Wutongzi) for juice and apply; black hair will definitely grow (Meishi Fang).